December 14, 2014

Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself

I've been collecting for as long as I can remember. Like many of you, I've gone through periods where I hardly thought about looking at the cards I have, let alone picking up new ones. In the long run, this hobby is something that I always come back to.

Over the years, my collection has taken many forms. It has focused on all four major sports, set building, prospecting, and even acquiring in-person autographs. Through it all, two things have remained constant: the New York Yankees and Denver Broncos. In more recent times, I've expanded to include current/former Durham Bulls and any cards that depict historic/memorable moments. I especially love the cards that contain the overlap of my love of history and the Broncos or Yankees. So, I'm going to share a few cards that do just that.

John Elway was one of the first quarterbacks that could really scramble. When he made this run late in Super Bowl XXXII, with the game still up for grabs, it showed Green Bay that he was willing to do whatever it took to win. Definitely one of the key plays in the Broncos' first ever Super Bowl win and one of my favorite moments. Looking at this card reminds me of everything I loved about watching Elway play.

This one is from that same 'big game'. Terrell Davis and Rod Smith doing the 'Mile High Salute' to celebrate a big TD scored by TD. It wasn't long after this that he was named the MVP of that game.

This moment will forever be etched into my memory as one of the last images of Mr. Elway as an NFL player. Here he is, hoisting his second consecutive Lombardi Trophy. As we all know, he would be named the MVP of that game and would announce his retirement shortly afterward. What a way to go out at the top of his game.

I love the Broncos and those cards are some of the favorites in my collection. These days though, the primary focus of my collection is baseball...

Here the Yankees celebrate their ALCS win, going to the World Series for the third straight year back in 2000. Their four championships in five years has been the closest thing to a baseball dynasty in my lifetime. However, if the SF Giants continue to win championships in the coming years, I might have to give them some consideration for that label.

This was the scene shortly after the final out of the 2009 World Series. I love that I can identify so many that we're taking part of this celebration! You've got Swisher and Posada ready to hug with Cano about to join in, Gardner in there, Sabathia standing almost a head above everyone, Matsui wading in, and Damon buried in the middle. This one came from a World Series Team set, one of the best retail pick-ups I've ever made.

I'm sure that the majority of you have seen this one from this year's flagship set, series one. I know it's just a checklist card, but it captures one of the most perfect sports moments in history. True, I'm biased, but there are two sure-fire future HOFers in this scene, and with the history these three shared over the years, I couldn't have pictured a better final moment of such a great career. I'm even actively searching out as many of those maddening color parallels of this one as I can. Even if I wasn't a Yankee fan, I would love this card. If only more cards these days were great reminders of the wonderful moments in sports.

I'm sure that soon enough, I'll have a Jeter retirement card to add to this mix. I can only hope it's as well done as that Rivera. Do you hear that Topps? You set the bar high with that one, don't let me down. I won't hold my breath on that, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised while opening a few packs of 2015 Topps series one.